Ordinary people know very little about the Christian faith

Awareness of the Christian faith in Britain is very low, according to a former BBC producer, responsible for religious programmes, and one time consultant to the Church of England.

"We're in an age now where what's sometimes called religious literacy is very low," Andrew Graystone told Premier Christian Radio today. "What I mean by that is that ordinary, everyday people don't know that much about the Christian faith.

"They just don't know the stories that some of us grew up with. They don't know the beliefs that we've discovered. We're now in a culture where Christianity is quite foreign to most people."

Speaking on Premier Drive he said that a lot of journalists too, while not antagonistic towards Christianity, knew little about it.

"They just don't get it; they don't understand it; they don't really know about it," he said.

"It's a great opportunity really to be able to speak to people with a bit more of a blank sheet about Christian faith."

Mr Graystone, who has a degree in theology and teaches at universities, suggested that Christians were not always good communicators.

"Christians haven't always been that great at the way we've presented Christian faith towards other people. We've not always been gracious and winning," he said.

"Sometimes Christians are offensive. I don't mind if the message of the Gospel is offensive, in fact it ought to be…it'll upset people…it will. But we, as Christians don't need to be offensive in the way we present it. We need to be gracious and warm and loving.

"My particular calling has been about helping Christians communicate the faith beyond the walls of the Church."